So you’ve just finished your training session, and enjoying looking at all those veins popping out of your arms. But what’s next? For a lot of us, its relatively common knowledge that we need some sort of nutrition after a workout. Ideally, you should drink it the second you put that dumbbell back into its rack, but anytime within a half hour of finished training is fine.
Now if you’re to believe all the claims from the supplement companies, basically every single product they make will make you look an extra in The Expendables. So that means protein shakes, weight gainers, pre-workout drinks, creatine powder, energy drinks and fat stripping supplements will all make you look the exact same. Despite them all having very different ingredients… Seems a bit dubious, right??!! Well, over the next few articles, I’m going to give you the plain and simple breakdown of all of these bad boys, including which types of each product are the best, which are decent, and what ones are as useful as an underwater hair-dryer.
So first up, I’m going to go through everyone’s favourite, the old “trustworthy” protein shakes. To start with, just saying protein shakes does not tell the whole story. Every supplement store has wall to wall protein shakes. These products range from whey protein to soy protein, hemp to egg, and everything in between. But what the heck is the difference between them all??!!!
Before we hit any supplement, what is protein??? Basically protein is one of the three major nutrients (called macro nutrients) that your body uses for bodily functions. Under the right circumstances, your body will use protein to repair muscle, increase lean muscle mass and shred body fat. By under the right circumstances, I mean a low sugar and low starch diet, rich in protein and moderately high in fat, with quite a bit of non-starchy vegetables in there too. Now, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, different supplements and different foods will give your body varying muscle building ability. On that note, protein shakes will NOT make you big and muscular (sorry guys, drinking one shake won’t give you a 6 pack and big arms). Protein shakes were designed to help you get lean and slim, nothing more, nothing less!! Now, onto what we all want to know about!
Whey Protein
This, in my eyes, is THE be all and end all of recovery drinks. Whey protein is the fastest acting recovery drink, due to its quick release of nutrients. This quick release makes it the perfect drink for post-workouts. Again, whey protein can be broken down to one of the types: whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate or hydrolysed whey protein. Concentrate is the lowest quality whey, isolate is a much better improvement and hydrolysed is the “best”. I put best in inverted commas as its results have thus far been shown only on lab rats. Now, I’m pretty sure you want bigger arms than a lab rat, so save your money and get isolate!
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Casein Protein
Casein protein makes up roughly 80% of the protein in milk, and as such, is digested much slower than whey. Immediately after a workout this is not very desirable, however, due to its slow digestion rate, it is very effective at muscle building due to the fact that it is less likely to be used as an energy source for the body. As far as times go, casein is best taken in the evening time, rather than post-workout.
Soy Protein
Soy protein is of much lower quality than that of whey or casein protein. Soy protein comes in two forms, standard soy or soy isolate. Soy protein (standard) is of slightly better quality than soy isolate. Unless you have a dairy intolerance, try going for whey or casein rather than soy.
Wheat and Pea Protein
Although both proteins are derived from different sources, they are relatively similar, which is why they are grouped together here. Wheat protein is both lactose and cholesterol free, while pea protein is lactose, cholesterol and gluten free. With this in mind, they are natural alternatives to whey and casein protein, and much better sources of protein than soy.
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Goat Milk Protein
Goat milk protein is perhaps one of the most unheard of types of protein, but in my personal view, this is the macdaddy of them all! With a higher bioavailability rating to your body that virtually any other protein source, it is also lactose free and very high in the most important individual components of protein, known as BCAA’s.
Now that’s a lot of info to take in, especially when you’re not overly familiar with nutritional supplements. So to make this a bit easier for you, here is my list of my most recommended supplements. For the big spenders out there, I’ll give you my best recommendations. As most of you reading this are students, I’m aware that you may not have the cash spare to buy a top notch protein supplement, so I’ll give you my bargain recommendations. The following tables have got the company and product name, pretty self-explanatory stuff. Quantity is the amount of product you get per tub, price is again straight forward. Protein % refers to the percentage of the powder that is made of protein, an essential stat that determines the quality of just about all protein powders.
Top Quality Recommendation
|
Company |
Product |
Quantity |
Price |
Protein % |
| Ultimate Nutrition | Iso Sensation 93 | 2.27kg | €60 | 93% |
| Nutrisport | 90+ Protein | 5kg | €85 | 90% |
Bargain Buys
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|
Company |
Product |
Quantity |
Price |
Protein % |
| Kinetica | Whey Protein | 1kg | €25 | 76% |
| Optimum Nutrition | 100% Gold | 1kg | €30 | 85% |
To be clear here, as I stated at the start of this article, whey protein is designed to help you get lean definition. It is NOT to help you get huge! For info on products on getting built like brick shit house, check out my next article coming in the next day or 2 on weight gainers. Until then, stay healthy guys!
Written by Maurice Walsh, BSc of Exercise and Health Studies
About the author
Maurice works as a personal trainer and lifestyle transformation coach at The Gym, Rathgar. He also works as a physique model. To get in contact with Maurice regarding training and nutrition go to www.facebook.com/totaltransformationfitness
To follow Maurice on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/maurice.walsh87
